Israel Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded to India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s message on the occasion of Israel’s 76th Independence Day.
| Photo Credit: X/@DrSJaishankar

Israel and India will continue to deepen their bilateral ties and lead to greater prosperity, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on May 14.

Mr. Katz was responding to India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s message on the occasion of Israel’s 76th Independence Day.

“Thank you for the warm wishes, FM @DrSJaishankar. In celebration of our Independence Day, Israel and India will continue to deepen our ties and lead to greater prosperity,” Mr. Katz said in a post on X.

Earlier in the morning, Mr. Jaishankar posted on X a 2:03-minute video showcasing the India-Israel relationship through photos of various bilateral meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, himself, and other Indian Ministers with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Ministers.

“Congratulate FM @Israel_katz and the people of Israel on the occasion of the 76th anniversary of Israel’s Independence. Mazel Tov!,” Mr. Jaishankar posted along with the video and repeated the same message in another post in Hebrew.

Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu wished her Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog as she said on X, “I join the people of India in conveying our best wishes to President @Isaac_Herzog, and the people of Israel on the 76th anniversary of Israel’s independence.”

Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla too took to X to post his greetings to his counterpart Amir Ohana, the Speaker of The Knesset: “On the occasion of Israel’s 76th anniversary of independence, I congratulate Speaker of the Knesset @AmirOhana and the people of Israel.”

Both Ms. Murmu and Mr. Birla also included greetings in Hebrew.

“Thank you, my dear friend @ombirlakota. May the friendship between our nations grow stronger,” Mr. Ohana replied to Mr. Birla and also added a line in Devnagari script in Hindi, loosely translated as, “Thank you my dear friend Om Birla. May the friendship between our countries be stronger.”

President of Colombia Gustavo Petro gives a speech as part of the 2024 International Workers Day in Bogota, Colombia, on May 1, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on May 1 announced his government will break diplomatic relations with Israel effective May 2 in the latest escalation of tensions between the countries over the Israel-Hamas war.

Mr. Petro again described Israel’s siege of Gaza as “genocide.” He previously suspended purchases of weapons from Israel and compared that country’s actions in Gaza to those of Nazi Germany.

“Tomorrow, diplomatic relations with the State of Israel will be broken … for having a genocidal President,” Mr. Petro said during an International Workers’ Day march in Colombia’s capital. “If Palestine dies, humanity dies, and we are not going to let it die.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz quickly rebuked Mr. Petro’s comments on the platform X.

“History will remember that Gustavo Petro decided to side with the most despicable monsters known to mankind who burned babies, murdered children, raped women and kidnapped innocent civilians,” he said.

Weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that sparked the current war in Gaza and killed some 1,200 people, Mr. Petro recalled Colombia’s Ambassador to Israel as he criticized the country’s military offensive.

Historically, Colombia had been one of Israel’s closest partners in Latin America. But relations between the two nations have cooled since Mr. Petro was elected as Colombia’s first leftist President in 2022.

Colombia uses Israeli-built warplanes and machine guns to fight drug cartels and rebel groups, and both countries signed a free trade agreement in 2020.

“Relations between Israel and Colombia always were warm and no antisemitic and hate-filled President will succeed in changing that,” Mr. Katz wrote on April 30. “The state of Israel will continue to defend its citizens without worry and without fear.”

The South American country deepened its military ties with Israel in the late 1980s by purchasing Kfir fighter jets that were used by Colombia’s air force in numerous attacks on remote guerrilla camps that debilitated the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The attacks helped push the group into peace talks that resulted in its disarmament in 2016.

Mr. Petro participated in the march on May 1 in Bogota to promote his proposed health care, pension and labor reforms.